How To Hire A Wedding Photographer

hiring a photographer

How To Hire A Wedding Photographer

Your wedding is a once in a lifetime event that you will remember for the rest of your life. Because of that I wanted to write a short article on some things you need to consider before going out and hiring just anyone claiming to be a wedding photographer.

What are some things you should look for in a quality-wedding photographer?

A professional photographer is someone who has studied the art of photography extensively. This can be through formal training or by being self-taught. Either way they must have some sort of training and a lot of experience shooting weddings. It requires an extremely high level of expertise to become a professional wedding photographer. The first step to finding the right one for you would be to look at different portfolios of photographers so you can get a feel for the look and style that is appealing to you.

It’s really important that you ensure the photographer you hire is a professional and not an amateur or hobbyist. Hiring a professional is going to cost quite a bit more than let’s say someone who only shoots weddings for friends and family. It is best not to trust your important day to someone that lacks experience and the professional equipment necessary to document a wedding. With that being said, you need to compare your budget with the quality of work photographers deliver. If there were one wedding vendor that you should over spend on it’s a good idea to make it the wedding photographer. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a photographer.

Think about it. What is going to be left after your wedding day is over?… your images from that day of course.

Here are a few guidelines to follow when choosing a photographer.

1) Technical and creative

Technical and well-composed images are one of the key distinguishing factors that separate a professional from an amateur. Creativity complements the technical expertise in the sense that the photographer is able to capture well-composed images free from distractions.

The photographs should draw you to the focal point of the photograph, such as the bride and groom standing at the end of the isle with the wedding guests blurred out.

In most cases, an experienced wedding photographer will have a particular style. Whether it be photo-journalistic, fine art, or traditional, they will have a style that shines in through in their portfolio. You should see consistency in their wedding albums. Which by the way, it’s always a good idea to ask the photographer if you can see a full wedding album.

2) Personable and charismatic

You spend a greater part of your wedding day together with the photographer so you really need to get along and connect with one another. It is imperative that you choose a wedding photographer with a personality that does not collide or conflict with yours. Apart from the photographer being proficient at his/her craft, you need to make sure they are friendly because it would really suck if your photographer shows up to your wedding and get’s rude with your guests or the other wedding vendors.

Why is hiring a proficient photographer important than hiring an amateur?

Here is a nightmare story for you that will put things into perspective. You spent 40k on your wedding and everything was perfect. The flowers, table settings, your gown, dinner, and the venue its self was how you envisioned it. You had your first dance with your father that you haven’t seen in 5 years, old friends were their attending and your groom danced all night with you. You were sure the photographs would be excellent. Then 5 weeks later you get the gallery preview from your photographer and all of the photos were blurry, under exposed, and crooked. They were so bad that you were even embarrassed to show them to anyone. In fact, your sister had a point and shoot camera and her photos were much better than the photographers. Well this is the chance you are taking when you hire an amateur photographer and not a professional.

Many couples are enticed to go with an amateur because of the price but after the wedding is over it’s too late to go back and hire a professional. A clear sign of an amateur is if their price is nearly 75% lower than any other professional in the area. Believe me, you don’t want to gamble on hiring an amateur.

Unlike amateurs, true professionals invest thousands of dollars in training, gear, software programs to edit, and hard drives to back up your images. Not to mention they have shot several weddings so yours necessarily won’t be much different in terms of quality of work.

Go for quality not quantity

Anyone can take over 10 000 images, but only come up with a hand few of good ones. Do not be enticed by the large volumes of photos a photographer may promise to take during your wedding. If you invest on quantity instead of quality you will be losing out in the end.